$100 Laptop from the MIT lab

$100 Laptop from the MIT lab

From the Economist - "The idea is as audacious as it noble: provide a personal laptop computer to every schoolchild—particularly in the poorest parts of the world. The first step to making that happen is whittling the price down to $100. And that is the goal of a group of American techno-gurus led by Nicholas Negroponte, the founder of the fabled MIT Media Lab. When he unveiled the idea at the World Economic Forum in January it seemed wildly ambitious. But surprisingly, it is starting to become a reality. Mr Negroponte plans to display the first prototype in November at a UN summit. Five countries—China, Brazil, Egypt, Thailand and South Africa—have said they will buy over 1m units each. Production is due to start in late 2006"

The altruistic goal of this laptop notwithstanding, the economics of such an undertaking puzzles me. Negroponte has to ship about 150 Million of these puppies to make ends meet - truly astounding by any yardstick. How in the world is he going to find 150 Million dual mode LCD displays, same # of processors and other stuff. What about distribution and support ? Maybe things will fall into place like it did for all those companies in the late 90's whose business plans called for just 1% of the market as an exit strategy :)